Jin's knees buckled. The Kageyoshi-a blade that had massacred hundreds of Crawlers-clattered about on the grated floor. Sera was there locked around his chest before he could hit the ground. His dead weight was a shock, a sudden, terrible ballast.
"Jin!" The name ripped out of her throat, sharp and raw.
Then Shūmei was there, shouldering past Sera with a certainty that was something close to violent. She took his weight, her much smaller frame impossibly steady, and lowered him to the floor with a reverence that was chilling to watch. Her already moving hands pulled a sterile wipe out of a pouch on her belt.
She immediately set about cleaning the blood off of his face, her touch impossibly gentle. Her crimson eyes were on him, blocking out everyone else.
